An Epic Adventure for True Explorers
The Northwest Passage
Having captured the hearts and minds of explorers and fortune seekers for centuries, this almost unconquerable sea passage, well beyond the Arctic Circle through the Arctic regions of North America, is the Northwest Passage.
Undisputedly one of the most remote and exciting travel destinations in the world, the Northwest Passage is the only possible shipping route between the Atlantic and the Pacific and is an epic adventure for true explorers. In summer, for a few short weeks, the temperature rises enough for the ice to melt, life reappears, nature is reborn and the mythical route is free for us to relive the polar adventures of previous generations of explorers – successfully!
Many have died crossing the waters connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but probably one of the most famous was British Explorer, John Franklin, who in 1845 set sail from Greenland to the Arctic Archipelago (now known as Canada!) with 128 men onboard two ships, all of whom died. During the remainder of the 1800s, the American and British governments launched approximately 40 expeditions to find these lost explorers, but it wasn’t until 2014 when a team of Canadian divers found one of these ships at the bottom of a channel.
Any adventure across the Northwest Passage will include passing explorer sites and ship graveyards, yet despite this fascinating, if not grim history, there is so much more this destination has to offer. Visitors will be mesmerised by the landscape – the vast expanses of ice floe, myriads of jagged islands, blue-toned glaciers, mountain chains, expanses of tundra and vertiginous walls.
This truly is a remarkable journey and even today, few ships have the capabilities to successfully complete the Northwest Passage. At the heart of this vast labyrinth of icy channels, there are just three main routes that allow the Northwest Passage to be crossed.
Sailings often leave from Reykjavik and travel along the south coast of Greenland, reaching the Hudson Strait, named after the English sailor Henry Hudson, who mapped it for the first time in the early 17th Century. Then head towards the Fury and Hecla Strait, named after the ships of the explorer William Parry. Always covered in ice, this seawater channel is around 1,900 metres wide at its narrowest point, and represents an impassable obstacle for most ships. Entering the passage, you will have the privilege of visiting Igloolik, an Inuit village that was only discovered in 1822.
An unique sailing experience can be enjoyed a little further on in the Bellot Strait, amidst countless icebergs. Sail along Banks Island, famous for the wreck of HMS Investigator lying offshore, one of the ships tasked to search for Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition. There is also incredible wildlife at Fairway Rock, home to many marine mammals and sea birds.
Journeys across the Northwest Passage offer an exciting array of wildlife encounters, including arctic foxes, narwhals, muskoxen, bowhead whales, orcas, seals, belugas, walruses and the possibility of seeing one of nature’s most dangerous yet beautiful creatures, an imperial polar bear with her cubs. This is a superb destination for bird lovers, with over 26 species of sea birds that migrate, nest and fish in the region.
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